This week on the podcast John reacted to Jerry Jones talking to the media and how he needs to start thinking before he speaks, his top 5 storylines heading into the NFL season, and how Ben Johnson is already proving that he is the leader the Bears need.. All that and more!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
The volume. What's going on everybody? How are we doing?
Hopefully you're having a great weekend. I'm John this three
and our podcast, and what we try to do from
(00:24):
time to time is do a little best of and
this week we had a lot going on. We have
the NFL back in full swing. I repeat full swing.
People are practicing, people are getting injured. We've got a
lot of stuff going on. So I thought we would
hit on just five big storylines heading into the season.
Jerry Jones he losing his mind because Jerry had some
(00:48):
comments this week where he just went, come on, Jerry,
It's just does this need to be said? When it
came to Micah Parsons and just contract negotiations, and then
Ben Johnson, it's safe to say that he is taking
over the Bears and he's gonna do it his way,
which is obviously a little bit different than Caleb Williams
is used to. So we discussed Ben Johnson having high
(01:10):
standards for that operation's dive into the pot. But before
we touch on Jerry Jones and the Cowboys, you know,
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price guarantee. Jerry Jones and the Cowboys. I think we
have to acknowledge something that there are a lot of
parallels with Jerry and the Cowboys, going into as he's
(02:41):
been in his eighties to the final stretch of Al
Davis and the Raiders. It becomes a little chaotic because
of the owner. And obviously there are financial differences the
Cowboys if they became up for sale. We just saw
the Lakers be valued at ten billion dollars. I think
(03:02):
it's fair to say that the Cowboys would go for
double that. And their financial revenue ability is second to none,
and their brand is worldwide. They're definitely the biggest, which
is crazy because they haven't won a Super bowling along
since the mid nineties. They are a cash cow and
(03:23):
Jerry's a huge part of that. And let me say this,
I admire Jerry the businessman because I think people that
I've always looked up to in any walk of life, especially,
you know, when it comes to business or sports or
just professional endeavors, typically have some kahonas have a little
(03:43):
shit to them and have had points and time in
their life when they've had to make a big decision
and they've put their nuts on the table. And Jerry
obviously did that in the late eighties. His stories well
documented of self made guy who bought the Cowboys when
he didn't even really have the money. So I respect that.
But I'm also old enough to bet around the block
(04:05):
a few times and know a few people that work
in family businesses, clearly not as big as the Cowboys,
but successful operations. And anytime the quote unquote patriarch, the
old man, whether it's the dad, the grandpa, makes a
lot of money and doesn't need anybody anymore, yet is
still involved in the operation. The older he gets, sometimes
(04:27):
the more difficult he becomes. He's not going to listen
to anybody. And I think when you look at the
current climate of sports, there's a consistent theme when it
comes to these negotiations. One the money being given out
in the team sports in America, baseball, basketball, and obviously
football has never been greater. Pro sports and pro athletes
(04:48):
in my life have always made a lot of money.
The amount they are making now is I try not
to become numb to talking about it because of how
big the sums are. But the more and more you
see these numbers get thrown around just kind of becomes normal.
Even though when you are paying people hundreds of millions
of dollars, it's the equivalent of some of these people
(05:11):
that sell their tech companies. I mean, it's crazy how
much these guys are accumulating right now in professional sports.
And Jerry, you know, when I grew up anyone my
age in the nineties, pro sports was a lot more raw.
You would have a lot of public fights between coaches
(05:31):
and players, GMS and players, and owners and players. Social
media didn't exist, so when you would have contract talks
or trade talks, it was just kind of no holds bar.
There was not a filter typically on either side. And
now we have kind of become a corporate version of that.
(05:53):
There is just too much on the line, right There
was a lot of money on the line back then,
but the numbers have exponentially grown, so most negotiations in
most sports, especially football, when you hear the GM, the
coach and the owner talk. They typically don't say anything.
They give you the kind of go to kind of
(06:17):
corporate jargon of we're gonna keep this in house. This
is between us and his representation. This is we do
not make our negotiations public. I'll give the Browns credit
when Jimmy has or when Miles Garrett went to the
Super Bowl and said I want to trade, I want
fucking out of here. It's like Damn Stude's going on
(06:40):
the Super Bowl car wash and telling us how he feels.
I was like, if I was the Browns, I trade
hi right now for like two ones and two two's.
It's you got an excuse to get rid of them.
Your team's gonna suck anyway. You might as well utilize
this powerful asset. But Jimmy has Them said no because
Miles Garrett and Clutch who represent and said we want
(07:00):
a meeting, and Jimmy Haslam said, not so fast, my friend,
no meeting. Discuss the business with Andrew Berry. And Andrew
Berry said, we're not trading you. We want to keep you.
We plan on paying you. That was kind of it.
We just saw T. J. Watt get a huge contract.
It wasn't a public negotiation. Most of these Fred Warner,
(07:21):
George Kittle, not a public negotiation. Yeah. With Jerry Jones,
give a listen because today he gave as he does
every single year, kind of the state of the franchise,
which most gms and coaches do at the start of
training camp. This week, I'm sure there'll be one with
Less Sneed and Sean McVay. I'm sure there was one
with Jim Harbaugh and Joe Ortiz, just like in the
(07:44):
next couple of days, Howie Roseman and Nick Sirianni, Kyle
Shanahan and John Lynch. Very normal, that's normal business. You
know who you don't see at any of these places
is the owner standing right there. Let's take a listen
to Jerry today.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
Just because we signed him doesn't mean we're going to
have him. He was hurt six games last year. Seriously,
we've signed I remember signing a player for the highest
paid it's the position in the league, and he got
knocked out two thirds of the year Dark Prescott. So
there's a lot of things you can think about when
you just as the player does, when you're thinking about
(08:21):
committing and guaranteeing money.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
I think one thing we all learn for any of you.
Obviously if you're married in a serious relationship. Something you
learn as you get a little older as a guy
is like you don't need to say everything that comes
into your head, right, And I think this works for
your personal relationships, your professional relationships. Hell, I've really taken
this tactic on social media. I'm like, I got a
(08:45):
lot of thoughts. I used to share way too many
of them, just because like, what's the point. Just keep
some stuff to yourself, right, And it's no different in
negotiations with the Rooneyes and TJ. Watt, Like, sometimes it's
gonna get ugly behind the scenes. You know what, No
no one gets to know about that. It's not all
you know, rainbows, unicorns and party. Right. Sometimes I'm sure
(09:09):
there are things said that like, god damn, this is
called negotiation. They don't do it in public because, you
know why, there's nothing to be gained. And in the
eighties and the nineties, when Jerry became a household name,
that's how you did business, and it was suitable. It
was actually very normal. It was not you weren't going
(09:30):
against the grain if you told the media, which obviously
got back to the player, how you felt and how
things were going. That doesn't take place anymore. One these negotiations.
There's so much money on the line, who does it
behoove to create a more chaotic situation. Two, with social media,
(09:52):
everything gets magnified to the one hundredth degree. Now it
just makes it a more chaotic situation for your player. Listen,
as you get older, you can handle things said to
you that you couldn't before. But in pro sports, especially football,
when you are giving a player, as the Cowboys are
going to do with Micah Parsons, because the moment you
(10:13):
don't trade them before the draft, you are going to
pay him. And Jerry did this with Ceedee Lamb, He's
going to do it again with Michah Parsons. You're gonna
pay him the most money in the history of the
NFL for a pass rusher. That's going to happen. It's inevitable. Now,
you can argue over a couple million here and there,
but we know the number. So Jerry putting this out there,
You're dealing with a guy just like any team would
(10:34):
be the first extension you give a player somewhere between
the ages of twenty four and twenty six. So unlike
if you're doing negotiations with some sixty five year old
who's been through the ringer for decades in business. He
can handle that. He's got thick skin. Just the reason
a lot of these guys have representation because going to
Drew Rosenhaus, going to Tom Condon, going to whoever, they've
(10:55):
seen it all. They've heard it all. They're not a
Jimmy has or excuse me, Jimmy Sexton doesn't get offended
at every time that you come back to a counter
in negotiations. You know why he's been negotiating these contracts
for decades. He's seen it all. Michael Parsons, this is
the first big contract of his life. This is more
(11:16):
money than he probably ever could have dreamed of a
decade ago. And he got the owner coming out and
making comments which are factual. He missed games, factual Dak
Prescott shattered his ankle. We all know that. But what
good does that do? And while it's a different situation
than Al Davis in the late two thousands, the parallels
(11:39):
to me feel like the owner aging not gracefully, doesn't
know how to pivot as times have pivoted. Unlike the Raiders,
the Cowboys, don't have financial issues, but they do have
an ownership issue. They do have a guy that you
could see the look on Brian Schottenheimer's face if he
saw the video. Steven, I would imagine, is not gonna
(12:02):
do this whenever Jerry is no longer around, because it
makes it more difficult. You don't need to create animosity
in these negotiations. Here's the other thing Jerry has said
before this, we would rather pay a little more and
get it right. I would agree with that statement if
(12:23):
you're talking about free agents, because typically you've got to
pay more in free agency. You pay a you know,
a thirty forty fifty sticker price to get the guy services,
and for the most part, you're not dealing with the
elite players. That's why they hit free agency. But Jerry
says that, and most of the time he's giving out
these huge contracts to guys he's drafted. So when you
(12:46):
sign a guy you've drafted, no one knows that player
better than yourself. I remember, like in the scouting process,
you get to know a guy, you get to know
the coaches, you get to know the assistance. And I
saw it when I was a g and I watched
our guys get scouted and you do all this work
on obviously the player, but the character, the love of football,
(13:08):
their work ethic, their toughness, their mental toughness, just how
good a guy they are to just how they treat people.
All that shit, right, and you feel really good about
it and maybe pound the table in the draft room,
But until you get the guy in the building, you
don't realize how important he is to you as a player.
Right the Chiefs did. We'll get into George Carloftis and
(13:30):
Trent McDuffie and you know the guys they drafted who
are everything that they want in a guy. The Ravens
have been doing this forever. The Steelers are good at
this to get your type players and just tough, old
school football guys. But Jerry, you drafted these guys like
you've been around them all the time. You've seen him
as a player through the good and the bad, like,
(13:50):
so what are you waiting for? So I just assume
that the Cowboys are gonna pay my historic amount of
money in about four five weeks, because that's what they've
consistently done with Dak, what they did a couple of
years ago or last year with CD and that's what
they'll do with Michael Parsons. But you just kind of
create this weirdness in your organization that you just gave
(14:14):
a first time head coach a job that let's face it,
I don't just like shitting on this guy because I
feel like that's the easy thing to do. But no
one else is giving me a head coaching job. Brian
Schottenheiber was not gonna be a head coach for anyone else,
even though a decade plus ago he was a coaching candidate,
turned some jobs down, career went the other way, and
it looked like he was never gonna become my head coach.
(14:35):
But in twenty twenty five, Jerry Jones was the only
guy giving him a job. And let's face it, like
the players aren't idiots. He's probably one of the lowest
paid coaches in the league. So Jerry a lot like
Al Davis is. This guy doesn't have a juice. Why
don't I fucking listen to this guy? If I'm good enough,
I'll just do whatever I want. Oh, Jerry's mad at me,
but I was like, I'll just go to him. And
(14:56):
if you look around the league, and this is what
I said about once training camp starts, the GM and
head coach will give a press conference and for the
most part, maybe a you know gms will do like
Coward Show or come on a podcast or whatever. But
they don't talk all the time.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
Right.
Speaker 1 (15:13):
The coach is the voice of the organization because he's
the boss. And when the players think that, like, hey,
if I screw up, Kyle Shanahan's gonna bench me if
I don't run this route, right like Sean McVay is
gonna cut me and put me back on the practice squad.
For two plus decades, you knew Bill Belichick was in charge.
(15:34):
He didn't sign the checks, he didn't own the team,
but Bill was in charge. You screw up in Kansas
City like the answer to Andy, and that's the healthy
way to run an organization. Yet with the Cowboys, I
would say the Bengals on the same way, like you know,
the owners in charge. Even Shamar Stewart's agent said today
(15:55):
because Duke Tobin's like we need him here, said that
like he shouldn't be talking. He not running point on
this negotiation. It's above his pay grade, which is an
all timeline from an agent, But he's saying it because
that guy's not running point in the organization. He's not
in charge the owners of the GM. And when you
run organizations like that, and let's face it, we like
(16:16):
Joe Burrow a lot more than we like Dak Prescott,
it's hard to win. It's why most people, despite having
Joe Burrow, Jamar Chase T. Higgins, you just bet against
the Bengals. It's why the Cowboys, It's like, I actually
think they probably could be a little better than people think.
I think most people think they're just gonna suck. Wouldn't
shock me if they're just competitive, probably not a playoff team,
(16:38):
But like I could see them in the mix to
be like eight nine wins. But I also could see
them in plode right and just quit on Brian Shotneimer.
And that's just kind of what happens is your organization
becomes like this owner centric guy. This is not like
George Steinbrenner nineteen ninety six. Those days are over. Most
of these owners don't say shit. They just look at
(16:59):
the Excel spreadsheet and the money flowing in and they
let their GM and their head coach handle everything. Obviously
they get involved at the highest level, but they never talk.
They only talk. Win kind of forced a couple owners
meetings and that might be it, and maybe if they
fire a coach, but if things are going well, like
they're not going to speak yet, Jerry can't help himself,
(17:21):
like he has to be the star of the franchise.
And it's it's kind of sad because I grew up
the Cowboys were a really big deal. They were the
biggest deal in the NFL, right there with the forty
nine ers, the rivalry, and then to the late nineties,
what happened to him? Jerry's ego got in the way,
and you could argue his ego has been in charge
ever since. And beside like the ability to get parcels
(17:43):
and get that stadium built, which is cool. I've been there.
It's you know, it's crazy. It's probably almost not far
away from being like twenty years old, but awesome accomplishment.
What are his highlights the last twenty five years? Seriously,
and he really only has himself to blame. But I also, like,
I've been around not at the level of Jerry's well,
(18:05):
but enough successful old guys in their seventies, in their eighties.
My dad was a farmer, right, I knew a lot
of old school farmers usually doesn't age well. They talk
about how we did things back in the day. It's like,
well that's thirty years ago. You might want to pivot here, buddy,
And I just think Jerry's pivoted as poorly as anybody
(18:27):
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Speaker 1 (20:25):
Let's do a little thing that I like to call
is their job on the line? And I just picked
five guys or or five situations. And I think, you know,
there are a lot of big storylines in the NFL,
and we will get to those as training camp goes.
But I was reading an article last night that went wow,
I didn't realize that these two guys could potentially lose
(20:48):
their job at the end of the season. So it
got me thinking, why didn't I make a little list
of some guys that I don't think most people are
talking about, Like is this guy's job on the line?
And I think it make a case that it is.
So we're gonna start with number five. I'm gonna start
with the Atlanta Falcons. They have underachieved, un like any
franchise since Matt Ryan left. They've drafted all these skilled guys,
(21:12):
and last year everyone told me they were gonna cruise
to the division championship. I said, no chance. Now I
picked the Saints, but of course the Falcons didn't make
the playoffs. This offseason. They trade up in the mid
twenties and use a first round pick next year. Why
do you do something like that, because you realize there
is pressure from the owner, the owners in the mid
(21:33):
in his mid eighties, he literally just put himself in
his own team's hall of fame, Arthur Blank. I think
it's safe to say that, like he feels the clock ticking.
And I have a hard time seeing Raheem Morris, who
everyone annoyed. Hell, he annoyed himself. He said, the reason
we have such a big coaching staff because we're gonna win,
and these guys are gonna get hired, so we want
(21:54):
to have their replacement on the staff where Heem he
seemed like a nice guy. No one's hiring guys from
staff at eight and nine, I'll promise you that. And
I don't know how anyone with a brain could pick
the Falcons this year to make the playoffs. Doesn't mean
they can't, right, I'm a Michael Penix fan, but I
think there is tangible pressure on this organization to not
(22:16):
only go above five hundred, but to win that division
and be in the playoffs, because I think if you
don't win that division, you're not in the playoffs. Like
I think that is a one playoff bid division. And
as we're sitting here right now I'm giving it to
the Bucks, but I think that these guys, that whole
thing could get blown up, which could be ugly. They
just used a high pick on Michael Pennix. They've obviously
(22:37):
drafted guys like Bijon and Drake London, a bunch of
guys really high, and now this last draft, they I
mean got really really aggressive. I think if they were
to underachieve like last year and what Michael Pennix doesn't work,
whatever happens, I mean, their defense hasn't been good for
a while, I think you could see that building detonated
(23:00):
and Arthur Blank starting all over a couple of years
after firing Arthur Smith. Number four. This one's interesting because, like,
this guy's clearly talented and an NFL quarterback, and when
you watch him and he's on, he's as dynamic as anybody,
and he can have drives, he can have halves where
(23:20):
you're like, he is killing these guys. I remember two
years ago when he came back from injury, Kyler had
a couple of drives against the Eagles. It was like,
as that team was falling apart, You're like, this guy
looks remarkable, and he had moments last year where you're
just like, what is going on now? It's not all
his fault. I think, you know, Marvin Harrison, listen, if
you could do a redraft. As we sit here today,
(23:42):
I don't think anyone's taking Marvin Harrison over Molik Neighbors.
And I think most people in the NFL, especially people
that weren't tasked with the decision to make a lot
of people had Milik Neighbors over him. That being said,
like Marvin Harrison was still a big time prospect. They
needed a lot out of them. They have a stud
tight end. They spent a bunch of money on defense.
They drafted a couple really good defensive players high. I
(24:04):
think there's some tangible pressure on this team to take
a step. They have, you know, relatively new GM, a
relatively new coach who I like. I think they've done
a good job. Like I like, I look at their roster,
I go pretty good. I watch Jonathan Gaan and I
go pretty solid. His team has played their balls off
the last two years, and now they have some talent.
But like, this is the NFL, like, can you make
(24:24):
the playoffs? And Kyler's year starting obviously they've only made
the playoffs one time, and that was the year they
started like ten to one and they fell apart at
the end, and then they got worked in that playoff
game against the Rams. So I just think you get
to a point where, Okay, he's really talented, and are
we gonna ever win with this guy? And he's one
of those unique players where it's like, you go eight
(24:46):
to nine, maybe you still want to stick with the
coach and the gym. But what if they go, we
want someone else at quarterback, We want to bick our
own quarterback. He would be the type player that would
still have some value. So if I was a betting
man right now, and I know they're kind of like
the trendy hipster pick as people taking the Arizona Cardinals
to make the playoffs, I'm not gonna do that. And
I think they missed. And I think there's a pretty
(25:07):
good chance that Kyler Murray is playing somewhere else in
twenty twenty six. Another guy. We have seen two recent
examples of guys drafted in the top five two teams
that view themselves as playoff teams. One team literally was
the forty nine ers. They had Super Bowl aspirations. They
take Trey Lance by the end of year two, they're like,
(25:30):
this guy's done bringing Sam Darnold. You guys kind of
compete for the second job. Actually you're the third string quarterback. No,
you're out of here. We traded you. He was traded
before week one of his third year. Anthony Richardson is
going into his third year. I think we all know
how this thing's gonna end. Daniel Jones going to be
starting week one. So these are two quarterback drafted third
and fourth overall. You know, the Colts not nearly as
(25:52):
good as the forty nine ers, but like the Niners
because their crappy division, they have playoff aspirations. This isn't
just we're drafting you high can suck, you can figure
it out, kind of like a Bryce Young situation. In hell,
he even got benched in your two. I do think
JJ McCarthy's in a unique spot. I have no clue
what he's gonna look like none. I do know this
(26:13):
that if I if I assume Jaden Daniel is gonna
stay really good, if I assume that Bo Nicks is
gonna just maintain and be a solid starter with Sean Payton,
I'm gonna bet on those two guys. I think it's
safe to say to buy some stock into Drake May
with Josh McDaniels Mike Rabel, like, I just think that
thing's gonna kind of work. We have a long history
(26:33):
of knowing, like a lot of quarterback drafts, fifty percent
of them at best hit. Some of these guys are
gonna fail. You know, Caleb's got Ben Johnson got a
really good roster. You would think he would make some
incremental improvements. Pennix, JJ McCarthy the pressure. This team won
fourteen games last year and was thirty minutes away from
(26:54):
being the number one overall seed. In being fifteen wins,
their starting quarterback through thirty five plus touchdowns, had a
really really good season. JG's never played like that. JJ
played on an offense and a team in college that
was fucking loaded, I mean absolutely star studded everywhere you looked.
Offensive line, defensive line, running backs, overall defense, and a
(27:18):
head coach who philosophically believed in running the ball when
all else fails, call runs and will slam it down
people's throat. And that's what we did. That's not how
Kevin O'Connell plays. Because they are equipped to chuck that
ball around. They have the best wide receiver in the league,
arguably himrh Jamar Chase, which ironic because they both played
on the same college team and were unstoppable and didn't
(27:39):
lose a game. Addison's a stud. They got players everywhere.
They've added a lot in free agency. There is no
just like, oh, well, what will ease into this thing?
If this does not go well? Like I do think
JJ McCarthy could be one and done. This isn't nineteen
ninety six, this isn't two thousand and seven, and it's
(28:00):
I guess it's no fault of his own. He got
injured last year, but last year just didn't happen. So
if this year goes bad and they were to miss
the playoffs, are they just gonna give him a long runway?
Trey Lance didn't get one, Anthony Richton didn't get one,
and Trey Lance played four games. So I just think
that the clock is ticking and this thing is gonna
be intense from the jump. The other guy that no
(28:22):
one's talking about, that I just have to wonder, is
this gonna work? Is Given the hype, there is no
disputing that Trevor Lawrence has been one of the more
underwhelming high draft picks in recent memory. He's not like
one of those where you just like, out of the league,
just totally sucks. But he's definitely not one of those
(28:44):
where you go, God lived up to the hype. What
an awesome player. If anything, he just leads you pretty frustrated.
I was told this guy was gonna be the greatest
thing since Andrew Locker paid Manning, and you watch him
and you just go, I don't know, I don't see
it now. I think it's easy to go. He plays
for the Jacks. Franchise has been in shambles and the
organization has just struggled to figure it out. The owner
(29:07):
from a GM to their coaching situation, it's just been
a mess. I look at Liam Cohen and I go, well,
how did Liam Cohen become a high level coaching prospect
because of two guys really three. Obviously Sean McVay put
him on the map, but when it comes to players
and it comes to quarterbacks, it was Matt Stafford and
(29:28):
Baker Mayfield. And when I think of those two guys,
I think ultimate football guys, like absolute badasses, lay it
all on the field. Their teammates love them just throwbacks.
I mean, you could picture Baker Stafford playing in the
sixties playing in the seventies. Obviously, both especially Stafford, made
a ton of money, but it feels like they would
(29:49):
have played for free, right. That's the passion, the toughness
they show. They're just awesome players to watch. It's easy
to watch them on television if you're at a game
and go, this guy's just a badass. Yes, that has
not really been Trevor Lawrence's thing. I mean, hell, when
Trevor Lawrence was coming out as dad was like, Eh,
Football's not everything. He's got other loves, you know. It's like, yeah,
(30:10):
I think Baker and Stafford really love their family, but
like football means a lot to them, you know. And
I just wonder like Liam Cohen looks at football through
the eyes of those two competitors, and I understand he's
been paid a lot of money, but we have seen
recent examples. Russell Wilson is a good one that like
those days if the head coach doesn't like you and
(30:32):
doesn't want you, like if this thing does not go well,
And they obviously traded a future first round pick to
get Travis Hunter, so all of a sudden if this
gets weird, which I think is very possible given that
Trevor Lawrence has proven nothing in the NFL, that maybe
a little bit this offseason, it's like, yeah, we'd probably
(30:53):
entertain giving Hi up because we're gonna need some picks,
We're gonna need some reinforcements, and just go, yeah, this
is not our guy, this isn't our type play. And
like any young coach, it's like, I'm not saying that
he he shouldn't be willing and fired up to coach
the guy. But I think we've seen this song and
dance before. So if I was a betting man and
(31:13):
you tell me that this JAG season does not go
as planned, which I would, based on the last decade
plus of history, probably not gonna go well, I would
say everything would be on the table for Trevor Lawrence
next offseason. And this is one I did not see coming.
I was reading the actually watched this show called Missing
(31:34):
Amy or Amy's Missing or this crazy ass documentary on Netflix.
But between episodes, I like clicked on my phone in
the athletic the website came up and it was about
this new president because Murphy just retired from the Packers,
and his name is Ed Policy. He is the son
(31:54):
of Carmen Policy, who forever was like Eddie de Barbelow's
Can Siglieri, who became like the CEO of the forty
nine Ers during the Bill Walsh, George Seaffert, Joe Montana,
Steve Young days. It's like, damn, this is Carmen Policy's
son is now running the Packers, and he's in charge.
And what makes the Packers unique is there's no Jerry Jones,
(32:16):
there's no Bob Kraft, there's no Jeffrey Lury. Ed Policy
is essentially the boss and Gudakins and Lafour, who I
think are good and I expect them to be good
this season. I'm gonna pick the Packers to win the division.
That being said, they have two years left on both
their contracts and they're coming off kind of just a
(32:36):
weird season. They went one to five in the division.
You know, Jordan Love was just a little hit or miss.
I think part of that was injury. But still it's
this is the result base business. Right. You can give
me excuses till the cows come home. At the end
of the day, no one really gives a fuck. And
reading this article on the athletic ed policy is behind
these guys. He's rooting for him, but he's openly said,
(32:57):
like listen, like we gotta get it done. I don't
think they had to win the Super Bowl, but I
do think I don't know if these two guys, because
most people do not go into a lame duck season.
Most people GM or coach do not do what Mike
McCarthy just did or Joe Douglas just did. It's pretty rare,
(33:18):
especially when you have someone above you that did not
hire you. Now, I'm only bringing this would not cross
my mind. I didn't think about these guys being on
the hot seat. I don't even necessarily think they're on
the quote unquote hot seat. But after reading this article,
I went there is some pressure here, Like if you
don't win, you're telling me this guy who's a lifetime
(33:39):
football guy who's been around football since the day was born,
whose dad worked with Bill freaking Walsh, who helped build
with Eddie de Barbelow, one of the great dynasties in
the history of professional sports, these guys better win. These
guys better have a good season. There is more tangible
pressure on this group, including then I realized, I went, damn,
(34:03):
I maybe people are talking about this in Packer Land,
but I went, I don't. Could they just have like
an off season and go eight to nine to just
keep their jobs? I don't think so. So I think
there is sneaky some pressure in Green Bay to win,
you know, to win the division, to host a playoff game,
(34:23):
and just show some positive momentum with Jordan Love for
ed policy to go. Okay, here's an extension, Matt Lafleur
and Brian Goodikins, you are my guys for the future.
But so you know, from Goudikins to the floor, to
Trevor Lawrence, to JJ McCarthy to Kyler Murray to the
guys in Atlanta, I think all these teams like wouldn't
(34:45):
shock me. I mean, I expect the Packers to make
the playoffs, but hell, I mean I expect the forty
nine ers to compete for the Super Bowl last year
and went six and eleven. Like the NFL is weird.
Weird shit happens, things go sideways really really quick. And
obviously some of these quarterback situations, given the pressure of
modern day football and the microscope that's on it, you
better buckle up. Because this thing can get weird fast.
(35:19):
I wanted to start with Ben Johnson because I think
sometimes you hear a lot the different generations gen X,
gen Z, Millennials and how we're all wired different. And
obviously we've all had different experiences as children depending on
the years we were growing up. But I think there
is a consistent theme with any young person who is
(35:41):
a high achiever and to make it into the NFL,
especially as a guy like Caleb Williams, you have to
be wired a certain way. There is a certain amount
of God given talent that people possess, right. It's a
reason that they're better than you at high school, it's
a reason they get into a college. But once you
get at the highest level, you have to take it
(36:03):
to another level, not just physically, but mentally in terms
of work ethic, in terms of training. It takes a
lot to last and to be a good player. You
can't fake your way into that. It's why coaching in
football has really separated then the other sports. Like in basketball,
you're not even allowed to yell to the players anymore.
They tell you what to do, and when they want
you fired, you're gone. In football, you could go and
(36:26):
do every position group in the NFL and in college,
and the position coach in that room is typically wearing
guys out and a lot of times the star players
just the nature of the business and watching hard knocks
last year, I was like someone was missing with Eberflus.
He's just like, this is a Saban guy. This guy
(36:48):
was team captain for Saban's team. What and it was
just like for a defensive guy, he just felt kind
of soft. He just honestly, he just felt completely over
his head. And listen, anytime you become a head coach
from being a coordinator, there is no guarantee you're gonna
know what you're doing. And clearly Eberflus is never gonna
(37:08):
be a head coach again. But Ben Johnson, people have
been begging for him to take their job for a
long time. I mean, Washington was flying to Detroit a
couple of years ago, I think praying and he'd take
the job. Clearly worked out for them landing Dan Quinn.
But listen, we're not all our wives' first choice. And
when I saw Ben Johnson is not only like kicking
the first team offense off the field and yelling at
(37:31):
guys and on guys and the intensities bringing to the
practice field, but how hard he's riding Caleb, I went,
you know, this might have a chance, because, let's face it,
the number one through five reasons the guy was hired
was to fix Caleb Williams and coach the offense which
can't run without him. And I saw that he gave
Caleb Williams going into the offseason a list of things
(37:54):
that he had to work on over the summer, from
studying the playbook to thirty to forty minutes a day,
to working on his footwork, which clearly needs to get better,
having goals of trying to complete seventy percent of his passes,
but even something as simple as like when you are
training in the summer, make sure you are working on
(38:14):
the throws to your left because you were terrible at
those during OTAs. And I will say this, whether you're
Peyton Manning or Tom Brady, to Caleb Williams, to any
position player who's any good in the league, they want
to be coach hard, They want to be pushed because
that's the only way to get better. The only way
to improve is when someone is willing to tell you
(38:35):
you need to do this that or the other thing
because what you're currently doing is not working. And in
the world of football sometimes that's very aggressive. And there
are several swear words attached with the message. Guys are
used to it. And I think one thing Caleb, it's
fair to say has lacked over the last several years,
(38:57):
even going back to college, is no one was telling
him anything like Lincoln Riley. Isn't exactly I would say,
viewed as a guy hard on his players, right, No
one's getting him confused with Nick Sabin or Kirby Smarter,
Brian Kelly. That's not really his mo. And then obviously
Eberflus was a dead man walking the moment Caleb Williams
(39:19):
showed up Ben Johnson, he's got some gravitas, he's got
some juice because he now more than Caleb, is viewed
as the most important guy in the organization. But if
he's going to have success, he needs this player to
be good and he needs to write him. I saw
headline today Dan Campbell kicked everyone out of practice, started
(39:40):
practice over like it's furious, right, So where did Ben
Johnson learn this from? And we're all products, you know,
definitely in football, whether it's audio or radio, or podcasting
of people we've worked with, people we've worked for, people
we've been around, and taking things that we like that
they do into our own world. And clearly Ben Johnson
(40:03):
I think is instituting some of the stuff that Dan
Campbell is really good at. Writing these guys and writing
them hard. Now, you can't just scream at a guy.
To scream at him twenty four to seven. You gotta
love him up a little bit, but you gotta coach
him hard. Football will never change. I don't care what
happens in society. They're the best coaches are always the
(40:23):
guys that demand the most and are the most intense.
You'd be like, why Andy Reid gets along with everyone.
Ask any player, any coach, anyone in that front office
about their operation through training camp through the season. One
they have the most physical training camp, and two in
season there's not I'm just taking this practice off to
go in the training room. That doesn't fly. And I
(40:45):
think if Ben Johnson wants to have success, he knows
he's got to be the hardest on Caleb Williams to
get the respect of all the other players on the team.
The volume
The volume. What's going on everybody? How are we doing?
Hopefully you're having a great weekend. I'm John this three
and our podcast, and what we try to do from
(00:24):
time to time is do a little best of and
this week we had a lot going on. We have
the NFL back in full swing. I repeat full swing.
People are practicing, people are getting injured. We've got a
lot of stuff going on. So I thought we would
hit on just five big storylines heading into the season.
Jerry Jones he losing his mind because Jerry had some
(00:48):
comments this week where he just went, come on, Jerry,
It's just does this need to be said? When it
came to Micah Parsons and just contract negotiations, and then
Ben Johnson, it's safe to say that he is taking
over the Bears and he's gonna do it his way,
which is obviously a little bit different than Caleb Williams
is used to. So we discussed Ben Johnson having high
(01:10):
standards for that operation's dive into the pot. But before
we touch on Jerry Jones and the Cowboys, you know,
I gotta tell you o my friends, my partners in
the official ticketing app on this podcast, Game Time best
in the business does not get any better. I love
my friends at game time because I had Fomo this week.
I had everyone I knew in Arizona was at the
Morgan wall In concert. He played back to back nights
(01:32):
in Glendale. I guess they got to work on the
ingress egress getting out of there, absolute disaster. I've been
there one time for a concert. Sucks. But listen, I
got friends that win in Sacramento, in Tahoe. I'm sure
many of you attendant concerts this summer, So if you
want to go to one, we got baseball season in
the final stretch of the season. We have football right
(01:53):
around the corner. I mean football is right around the corner.
A lot of you guys have hit me up, going, Hey,
I've already bought my tickets for this game. Hey, me
and my dad are going to go to an SEC
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Any event you want to go to, you can search
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So here's the thing, fellas. Take the guests. We've got
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price guarantee. Jerry Jones and the Cowboys. I think we
have to acknowledge something that there are a lot of
parallels with Jerry and the Cowboys, going into as he's
(02:41):
been in his eighties to the final stretch of Al
Davis and the Raiders. It becomes a little chaotic because
of the owner. And obviously there are financial differences the
Cowboys if they became up for sale. We just saw
the Lakers be valued at ten billion dollars. I think
(03:02):
it's fair to say that the Cowboys would go for
double that. And their financial revenue ability is second to none,
and their brand is worldwide. They're definitely the biggest, which
is crazy because they haven't won a Super bowling along
since the mid nineties. They are a cash cow and
(03:23):
Jerry's a huge part of that. And let me say this,
I admire Jerry the businessman because I think people that
I've always looked up to in any walk of life, especially,
you know, when it comes to business or sports or
just professional endeavors, typically have some kahonas have a little
(03:43):
shit to them and have had points and time in
their life when they've had to make a big decision
and they've put their nuts on the table. And Jerry
obviously did that in the late eighties. His stories well
documented of self made guy who bought the Cowboys when
he didn't even really have the money. So I respect that.
But I'm also old enough to bet around the block
(04:05):
a few times and know a few people that work
in family businesses, clearly not as big as the Cowboys,
but successful operations. And anytime the quote unquote patriarch, the
old man, whether it's the dad, the grandpa, makes a
lot of money and doesn't need anybody anymore, yet is
still involved in the operation. The older he gets, sometimes
(04:27):
the more difficult he becomes. He's not going to listen
to anybody. And I think when you look at the
current climate of sports, there's a consistent theme when it
comes to these negotiations. One the money being given out
in the team sports in America, baseball, basketball, and obviously
football has never been greater. Pro sports and pro athletes
(04:48):
in my life have always made a lot of money.
The amount they are making now is I try not
to become numb to talking about it because of how
big the sums are. But the more and more you
see these numbers get thrown around just kind of becomes normal.
Even though when you are paying people hundreds of millions
of dollars, it's the equivalent of some of these people
(05:11):
that sell their tech companies. I mean, it's crazy how
much these guys are accumulating right now in professional sports.
And Jerry, you know, when I grew up anyone my
age in the nineties, pro sports was a lot more raw.
You would have a lot of public fights between coaches
(05:31):
and players, GMS and players, and owners and players. Social
media didn't exist, so when you would have contract talks
or trade talks, it was just kind of no holds bar.
There was not a filter typically on either side. And
now we have kind of become a corporate version of that.
(05:53):
There is just too much on the line, right There
was a lot of money on the line back then,
but the numbers have exponentially grown, so most negotiations in
most sports, especially football, when you hear the GM, the
coach and the owner talk. They typically don't say anything.
They give you the kind of go to kind of
(06:17):
corporate jargon of we're gonna keep this in house. This
is between us and his representation. This is we do
not make our negotiations public. I'll give the Browns credit
when Jimmy has or when Miles Garrett went to the
Super Bowl and said I want to trade, I want
fucking out of here. It's like Damn Stude's going on
(06:40):
the Super Bowl car wash and telling us how he feels.
I was like, if I was the Browns, I trade
hi right now for like two ones and two two's.
It's you got an excuse to get rid of them.
Your team's gonna suck anyway. You might as well utilize
this powerful asset. But Jimmy has Them said no because
Miles Garrett and Clutch who represent and said we want
(07:00):
a meeting, and Jimmy Haslam said, not so fast, my friend,
no meeting. Discuss the business with Andrew Berry. And Andrew
Berry said, we're not trading you. We want to keep you.
We plan on paying you. That was kind of it.
We just saw T. J. Watt get a huge contract.
It wasn't a public negotiation. Most of these Fred Warner,
(07:21):
George Kittle, not a public negotiation. Yeah. With Jerry Jones,
give a listen because today he gave as he does
every single year, kind of the state of the franchise,
which most gms and coaches do at the start of
training camp. This week, I'm sure there'll be one with
Less Sneed and Sean McVay. I'm sure there was one
with Jim Harbaugh and Joe Ortiz, just like in the
(07:44):
next couple of days, Howie Roseman and Nick Sirianni, Kyle
Shanahan and John Lynch. Very normal, that's normal business. You
know who you don't see at any of these places
is the owner standing right there. Let's take a listen
to Jerry today.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
Just because we signed him doesn't mean we're going to
have him. He was hurt six games last year. Seriously,
we've signed I remember signing a player for the highest
paid it's the position in the league, and he got
knocked out two thirds of the year Dark Prescott. So
there's a lot of things you can think about when
you just as the player does, when you're thinking about
(08:21):
committing and guaranteeing money.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
I think one thing we all learn for any of you.
Obviously if you're married in a serious relationship. Something you
learn as you get a little older as a guy
is like you don't need to say everything that comes
into your head, right, And I think this works for
your personal relationships, your professional relationships. Hell, I've really taken
this tactic on social media. I'm like, I got a
(08:45):
lot of thoughts. I used to share way too many
of them, just because like, what's the point. Just keep
some stuff to yourself, right, And it's no different in
negotiations with the Rooneyes and TJ. Watt, Like, sometimes it's
gonna get ugly behind the scenes. You know what, No
no one gets to know about that. It's not all
you know, rainbows, unicorns and party. Right. Sometimes I'm sure
(09:09):
there are things said that like, god damn, this is
called negotiation. They don't do it in public because, you
know why, there's nothing to be gained. And in the
eighties and the nineties, when Jerry became a household name,
that's how you did business, and it was suitable. It
was actually very normal. It was not you weren't going
(09:30):
against the grain if you told the media, which obviously
got back to the player, how you felt and how
things were going. That doesn't take place anymore. One these negotiations.
There's so much money on the line, who does it
behoove to create a more chaotic situation. Two, with social media,
(09:52):
everything gets magnified to the one hundredth degree. Now it
just makes it a more chaotic situation for your player. Listen,
as you get older, you can handle things said to
you that you couldn't before. But in pro sports, especially football,
when you are giving a player, as the Cowboys are
going to do with Micah Parsons, because the moment you
(10:13):
don't trade them before the draft, you are going to
pay him. And Jerry did this with Ceedee Lamb, He's
going to do it again with Michah Parsons. You're gonna
pay him the most money in the history of the
NFL for a pass rusher. That's going to happen. It's inevitable. Now,
you can argue over a couple million here and there,
but we know the number. So Jerry putting this out there,
You're dealing with a guy just like any team would
(10:34):
be the first extension you give a player somewhere between
the ages of twenty four and twenty six. So unlike
if you're doing negotiations with some sixty five year old
who's been through the ringer for decades in business. He
can handle that. He's got thick skin. Just the reason
a lot of these guys have representation because going to
Drew Rosenhaus, going to Tom Condon, going to whoever, they've
(10:55):
seen it all. They've heard it all. They're not a
Jimmy has or excuse me, Jimmy Sexton doesn't get offended
at every time that you come back to a counter
in negotiations. You know why he's been negotiating these contracts
for decades. He's seen it all. Michael Parsons, this is
the first big contract of his life. This is more
(11:16):
money than he probably ever could have dreamed of a
decade ago. And he got the owner coming out and
making comments which are factual. He missed games, factual Dak
Prescott shattered his ankle. We all know that. But what
good does that do? And while it's a different situation
than Al Davis in the late two thousands, the parallels
(11:39):
to me feel like the owner aging not gracefully, doesn't
know how to pivot as times have pivoted. Unlike the Raiders,
the Cowboys, don't have financial issues, but they do have
an ownership issue. They do have a guy that you
could see the look on Brian Schottenheimer's face if he
saw the video. Steven, I would imagine, is not gonna
(12:02):
do this whenever Jerry is no longer around, because it
makes it more difficult. You don't need to create animosity
in these negotiations. Here's the other thing Jerry has said
before this, we would rather pay a little more and
get it right. I would agree with that statement if
(12:23):
you're talking about free agents, because typically you've got to
pay more in free agency. You pay a you know,
a thirty forty fifty sticker price to get the guy services,
and for the most part, you're not dealing with the
elite players. That's why they hit free agency. But Jerry
says that, and most of the time he's giving out
these huge contracts to guys he's drafted. So when you
(12:46):
sign a guy you've drafted, no one knows that player
better than yourself. I remember, like in the scouting process,
you get to know a guy, you get to know
the coaches, you get to know the assistance. And I
saw it when I was a g and I watched
our guys get scouted and you do all this work
on obviously the player, but the character, the love of football,
(13:08):
their work ethic, their toughness, their mental toughness, just how
good a guy they are to just how they treat people.
All that shit, right, and you feel really good about
it and maybe pound the table in the draft room,
But until you get the guy in the building, you
don't realize how important he is to you as a player.
Right the Chiefs did. We'll get into George Carloftis and
(13:30):
Trent McDuffie and you know the guys they drafted who
are everything that they want in a guy. The Ravens
have been doing this forever. The Steelers are good at
this to get your type players and just tough, old
school football guys. But Jerry, you drafted these guys like
you've been around them all the time. You've seen him
as a player through the good and the bad, like,
(13:50):
so what are you waiting for? So I just assume
that the Cowboys are gonna pay my historic amount of
money in about four five weeks, because that's what they've
consistently done with Dak, what they did a couple of
years ago or last year with CD and that's what
they'll do with Michael Parsons. But you just kind of
create this weirdness in your organization that you just gave
(14:14):
a first time head coach a job that let's face it,
I don't just like shitting on this guy because I
feel like that's the easy thing to do. But no
one else is giving me a head coaching job. Brian
Schottenheiber was not gonna be a head coach for anyone else,
even though a decade plus ago he was a coaching candidate,
turned some jobs down, career went the other way, and
it looked like he was never gonna become my head coach.
(14:35):
But in twenty twenty five, Jerry Jones was the only
guy giving him a job. And let's face it, like
the players aren't idiots. He's probably one of the lowest
paid coaches in the league. So Jerry a lot like
Al Davis is. This guy doesn't have a juice. Why
don't I fucking listen to this guy? If I'm good enough,
I'll just do whatever I want. Oh, Jerry's mad at me,
but I was like, I'll just go to him. And
(14:56):
if you look around the league, and this is what
I said about once training camp starts, the GM and
head coach will give a press conference and for the
most part, maybe a you know gms will do like
Coward Show or come on a podcast or whatever. But
they don't talk all the time.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
Right.
Speaker 1 (15:13):
The coach is the voice of the organization because he's
the boss. And when the players think that, like, hey,
if I screw up, Kyle Shanahan's gonna bench me if
I don't run this route, right like Sean McVay is
gonna cut me and put me back on the practice squad.
For two plus decades, you knew Bill Belichick was in charge.
(15:34):
He didn't sign the checks, he didn't own the team,
but Bill was in charge. You screw up in Kansas
City like the answer to Andy, and that's the healthy
way to run an organization. Yet with the Cowboys, I
would say the Bengals on the same way, like you know,
the owners in charge. Even Shamar Stewart's agent said today
(15:55):
because Duke Tobin's like we need him here, said that
like he shouldn't be talking. He not running point on
this negotiation. It's above his pay grade, which is an
all timeline from an agent, But he's saying it because
that guy's not running point in the organization. He's not
in charge the owners of the GM. And when you
run organizations like that, and let's face it, we like
(16:16):
Joe Burrow a lot more than we like Dak Prescott,
it's hard to win. It's why most people, despite having
Joe Burrow, Jamar Chase T. Higgins, you just bet against
the Bengals. It's why the Cowboys, It's like, I actually
think they probably could be a little better than people think.
I think most people think they're just gonna suck. Wouldn't
shock me if they're just competitive, probably not a playoff team,
(16:38):
But like I could see them in the mix to
be like eight nine wins. But I also could see
them in plode right and just quit on Brian Shotneimer.
And that's just kind of what happens is your organization
becomes like this owner centric guy. This is not like
George Steinbrenner nineteen ninety six. Those days are over. Most
of these owners don't say shit. They just look at
(16:59):
the Excel spreadsheet and the money flowing in and they
let their GM and their head coach handle everything. Obviously
they get involved at the highest level, but they never talk.
They only talk. Win kind of forced a couple owners
meetings and that might be it, and maybe if they
fire a coach, but if things are going well, like
they're not going to speak yet, Jerry can't help himself,
(17:21):
like he has to be the star of the franchise.
And it's it's kind of sad because I grew up
the Cowboys were a really big deal. They were the
biggest deal in the NFL, right there with the forty
nine ers, the rivalry, and then to the late nineties,
what happened to him? Jerry's ego got in the way,
and you could argue his ego has been in charge
ever since. And beside like the ability to get parcels
(17:43):
and get that stadium built, which is cool. I've been there.
It's you know, it's crazy. It's probably almost not far
away from being like twenty years old, but awesome accomplishment.
What are his highlights the last twenty five years? Seriously,
and he really only has himself to blame. But I also, like,
I've been around not at the level of Jerry's well,
(18:05):
but enough successful old guys in their seventies, in their eighties.
My dad was a farmer, right, I knew a lot
of old school farmers usually doesn't age well. They talk
about how we did things back in the day. It's like,
well that's thirty years ago. You might want to pivot here, buddy,
And I just think Jerry's pivoted as poorly as anybody
(18:27):
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Speaker 1 (20:25):
Let's do a little thing that I like to call
is their job on the line? And I just picked
five guys or or five situations. And I think, you know,
there are a lot of big storylines in the NFL,
and we will get to those as training camp goes.
But I was reading an article last night that went wow,
I didn't realize that these two guys could potentially lose
(20:48):
their job at the end of the season. So it
got me thinking, why didn't I make a little list
of some guys that I don't think most people are
talking about, Like is this guy's job on the line?
And I think it make a case that it is.
So we're gonna start with number five. I'm gonna start
with the Atlanta Falcons. They have underachieved, un like any
franchise since Matt Ryan left. They've drafted all these skilled guys,
(21:12):
and last year everyone told me they were gonna cruise
to the division championship. I said, no chance. Now I
picked the Saints, but of course the Falcons didn't make
the playoffs. This offseason. They trade up in the mid
twenties and use a first round pick next year. Why
do you do something like that, because you realize there
is pressure from the owner, the owners in the mid
(21:33):
in his mid eighties, he literally just put himself in
his own team's hall of fame, Arthur Blank. I think
it's safe to say that, like he feels the clock ticking.
And I have a hard time seeing Raheem Morris, who
everyone annoyed. Hell, he annoyed himself. He said, the reason
we have such a big coaching staff because we're gonna win,
and these guys are gonna get hired, so we want
(21:54):
to have their replacement on the staff where Heem he
seemed like a nice guy. No one's hiring guys from
staff at eight and nine, I'll promise you that. And
I don't know how anyone with a brain could pick
the Falcons this year to make the playoffs. Doesn't mean
they can't, right, I'm a Michael Penix fan, but I
think there is tangible pressure on this organization to not
(22:16):
only go above five hundred, but to win that division
and be in the playoffs, because I think if you
don't win that division, you're not in the playoffs. Like
I think that is a one playoff bid division. And
as we're sitting here right now I'm giving it to
the Bucks, but I think that these guys, that whole
thing could get blown up, which could be ugly. They
just used a high pick on Michael Pennix. They've obviously
(22:37):
drafted guys like Bijon and Drake London, a bunch of
guys really high, and now this last draft, they I
mean got really really aggressive. I think if they were
to underachieve like last year and what Michael Pennix doesn't work,
whatever happens, I mean, their defense hasn't been good for
a while, I think you could see that building detonated
(23:00):
and Arthur Blank starting all over a couple of years
after firing Arthur Smith. Number four. This one's interesting because, like,
this guy's clearly talented and an NFL quarterback, and when
you watch him and he's on, he's as dynamic as anybody,
and he can have drives, he can have halves where
(23:20):
you're like, he is killing these guys. I remember two
years ago when he came back from injury, Kyler had
a couple of drives against the Eagles. It was like,
as that team was falling apart, You're like, this guy
looks remarkable, and he had moments last year where you're
just like, what is going on now? It's not all
his fault. I think, you know, Marvin Harrison, listen, if
you could do a redraft. As we sit here today,
(23:42):
I don't think anyone's taking Marvin Harrison over Molik Neighbors.
And I think most people in the NFL, especially people
that weren't tasked with the decision to make a lot
of people had Milik Neighbors over him. That being said,
like Marvin Harrison was still a big time prospect. They
needed a lot out of them. They have a stud
tight end. They spent a bunch of money on defense.
They drafted a couple really good defensive players high. I
(24:04):
think there's some tangible pressure on this team to take
a step. They have, you know, relatively new GM, a
relatively new coach who I like. I think they've done
a good job. Like I like, I look at their roster,
I go pretty good. I watch Jonathan Gaan and I
go pretty solid. His team has played their balls off
the last two years, and now they have some talent.
But like, this is the NFL, like, can you make
(24:24):
the playoffs? And Kyler's year starting obviously they've only made
the playoffs one time, and that was the year they
started like ten to one and they fell apart at
the end, and then they got worked in that playoff
game against the Rams. So I just think you get
to a point where, Okay, he's really talented, and are
we gonna ever win with this guy? And he's one
of those unique players where it's like, you go eight
(24:46):
to nine, maybe you still want to stick with the
coach and the gym. But what if they go, we
want someone else at quarterback, We want to bick our
own quarterback. He would be the type player that would
still have some value. So if I was a betting
man right now, and I know they're kind of like
the trendy hipster pick as people taking the Arizona Cardinals
to make the playoffs, I'm not gonna do that. And
I think they missed. And I think there's a pretty
(25:07):
good chance that Kyler Murray is playing somewhere else in
twenty twenty six. Another guy. We have seen two recent
examples of guys drafted in the top five two teams
that view themselves as playoff teams. One team literally was
the forty nine ers. They had Super Bowl aspirations. They
take Trey Lance by the end of year two, they're like,
(25:30):
this guy's done bringing Sam Darnold. You guys kind of
compete for the second job. Actually you're the third string quarterback. No,
you're out of here. We traded you. He was traded
before week one of his third year. Anthony Richardson is
going into his third year. I think we all know
how this thing's gonna end. Daniel Jones going to be
starting week one. So these are two quarterback drafted third
and fourth overall. You know, the Colts not nearly as
(25:52):
good as the forty nine ers, but like the Niners
because their crappy division, they have playoff aspirations. This isn't
just we're drafting you high can suck, you can figure
it out, kind of like a Bryce Young situation. In hell,
he even got benched in your two. I do think
JJ McCarthy's in a unique spot. I have no clue
what he's gonna look like none. I do know this
(26:13):
that if I if I assume Jaden Daniel is gonna
stay really good, if I assume that Bo Nicks is
gonna just maintain and be a solid starter with Sean Payton,
I'm gonna bet on those two guys. I think it's
safe to say to buy some stock into Drake May
with Josh McDaniels Mike Rabel, like, I just think that
thing's gonna kind of work. We have a long history
(26:33):
of knowing, like a lot of quarterback drafts, fifty percent
of them at best hit. Some of these guys are
gonna fail. You know, Caleb's got Ben Johnson got a
really good roster. You would think he would make some
incremental improvements. Pennix, JJ McCarthy the pressure. This team won
fourteen games last year and was thirty minutes away from
(26:54):
being the number one overall seed. In being fifteen wins,
their starting quarterback through thirty five plus touchdowns, had a
really really good season. JG's never played like that. JJ
played on an offense and a team in college that
was fucking loaded, I mean absolutely star studded everywhere you looked.
Offensive line, defensive line, running backs, overall defense, and a
(27:18):
head coach who philosophically believed in running the ball when
all else fails, call runs and will slam it down
people's throat. And that's what we did. That's not how
Kevin O'Connell plays. Because they are equipped to chuck that
ball around. They have the best wide receiver in the league,
arguably himrh Jamar Chase, which ironic because they both played
on the same college team and were unstoppable and didn't
(27:39):
lose a game. Addison's a stud. They got players everywhere.
They've added a lot in free agency. There is no
just like, oh, well, what will ease into this thing?
If this does not go well? Like I do think
JJ McCarthy could be one and done. This isn't nineteen
ninety six, this isn't two thousand and seven, and it's
(28:00):
I guess it's no fault of his own. He got
injured last year, but last year just didn't happen. So
if this year goes bad and they were to miss
the playoffs, are they just gonna give him a long runway?
Trey Lance didn't get one, Anthony Richton didn't get one,
and Trey Lance played four games. So I just think
that the clock is ticking and this thing is gonna
be intense from the jump. The other guy that no
(28:22):
one's talking about, that I just have to wonder, is
this gonna work? Is Given the hype, there is no
disputing that Trevor Lawrence has been one of the more
underwhelming high draft picks in recent memory. He's not like
one of those where you just like, out of the league,
just totally sucks. But he's definitely not one of those
(28:44):
where you go, God lived up to the hype. What
an awesome player. If anything, he just leads you pretty frustrated.
I was told this guy was gonna be the greatest
thing since Andrew Locker paid Manning, and you watch him
and you just go, I don't know, I don't see
it now. I think it's easy to go. He plays
for the Jacks. Franchise has been in shambles and the
organization has just struggled to figure it out. The owner
(29:07):
from a GM to their coaching situation, it's just been
a mess. I look at Liam Cohen and I go, well,
how did Liam Cohen become a high level coaching prospect
because of two guys really three. Obviously Sean McVay put
him on the map, but when it comes to players
and it comes to quarterbacks, it was Matt Stafford and
(29:28):
Baker Mayfield. And when I think of those two guys,
I think ultimate football guys, like absolute badasses, lay it
all on the field. Their teammates love them just throwbacks.
I mean, you could picture Baker Stafford playing in the
sixties playing in the seventies. Obviously, both especially Stafford, made
a ton of money, but it feels like they would
(29:49):
have played for free, right. That's the passion, the toughness
they show. They're just awesome players to watch. It's easy
to watch them on television if you're at a game
and go, this guy's just a badass. Yes, that has
not really been Trevor Lawrence's thing. I mean, hell, when
Trevor Lawrence was coming out as dad was like, Eh,
Football's not everything. He's got other loves, you know. It's like, yeah,
(30:10):
I think Baker and Stafford really love their family, but
like football means a lot to them, you know. And
I just wonder like Liam Cohen looks at football through
the eyes of those two competitors, and I understand he's
been paid a lot of money, but we have seen
recent examples. Russell Wilson is a good one that like
those days if the head coach doesn't like you and
(30:32):
doesn't want you, like if this thing does not go well,
And they obviously traded a future first round pick to
get Travis Hunter, so all of a sudden if this
gets weird, which I think is very possible given that
Trevor Lawrence has proven nothing in the NFL, that maybe
a little bit this offseason, it's like, yeah, we'd probably
(30:53):
entertain giving Hi up because we're gonna need some picks,
We're gonna need some reinforcements, and just go, yeah, this
is not our guy, this isn't our type play. And
like any young coach, it's like, I'm not saying that
he he shouldn't be willing and fired up to coach
the guy. But I think we've seen this song and
dance before. So if I was a betting man and
(31:13):
you tell me that this JAG season does not go
as planned, which I would, based on the last decade
plus of history, probably not gonna go well, I would
say everything would be on the table for Trevor Lawrence
next offseason. And this is one I did not see coming.
I was reading the actually watched this show called Missing
(31:34):
Amy or Amy's Missing or this crazy ass documentary on Netflix.
But between episodes, I like clicked on my phone in
the athletic the website came up and it was about
this new president because Murphy just retired from the Packers,
and his name is Ed Policy. He is the son
(31:54):
of Carmen Policy, who forever was like Eddie de Barbelow's
Can Siglieri, who became like the CEO of the forty
nine Ers during the Bill Walsh, George Seaffert, Joe Montana,
Steve Young days. It's like, damn, this is Carmen Policy's
son is now running the Packers, and he's in charge.
And what makes the Packers unique is there's no Jerry Jones,
(32:16):
there's no Bob Kraft, there's no Jeffrey Lury. Ed Policy
is essentially the boss and Gudakins and Lafour, who I
think are good and I expect them to be good
this season. I'm gonna pick the Packers to win the division.
That being said, they have two years left on both
their contracts and they're coming off kind of just a
(32:36):
weird season. They went one to five in the division.
You know, Jordan Love was just a little hit or miss.
I think part of that was injury. But still it's
this is the result base business. Right. You can give
me excuses till the cows come home. At the end
of the day, no one really gives a fuck. And
reading this article on the athletic ed policy is behind
these guys. He's rooting for him, but he's openly said,
(32:57):
like listen, like we gotta get it done. I don't
think they had to win the Super Bowl, but I
do think I don't know if these two guys, because
most people do not go into a lame duck season.
Most people GM or coach do not do what Mike
McCarthy just did or Joe Douglas just did. It's pretty rare,
(33:18):
especially when you have someone above you that did not
hire you. Now, I'm only bringing this would not cross
my mind. I didn't think about these guys being on
the hot seat. I don't even necessarily think they're on
the quote unquote hot seat. But after reading this article,
I went there is some pressure here, Like if you
don't win, you're telling me this guy who's a lifetime
(33:39):
football guy who's been around football since the day was born,
whose dad worked with Bill freaking Walsh, who helped build
with Eddie de Barbelow, one of the great dynasties in
the history of professional sports, these guys better win. These
guys better have a good season. There is more tangible
pressure on this group, including then I realized, I went, damn,
(34:03):
I maybe people are talking about this in Packer Land,
but I went, I don't. Could they just have like
an off season and go eight to nine to just
keep their jobs? I don't think so. So I think
there is sneaky some pressure in Green Bay to win,
you know, to win the division, to host a playoff game,
(34:23):
and just show some positive momentum with Jordan Love for
ed policy to go. Okay, here's an extension, Matt Lafleur
and Brian Goodikins, you are my guys for the future.
But so you know, from Goudikins to the floor, to
Trevor Lawrence, to JJ McCarthy to Kyler Murray to the
guys in Atlanta, I think all these teams like wouldn't
(34:45):
shock me. I mean, I expect the Packers to make
the playoffs, but hell, I mean I expect the forty
nine ers to compete for the Super Bowl last year
and went six and eleven. Like the NFL is weird.
Weird shit happens, things go sideways really really quick. And
obviously some of these quarterback situations, given the pressure of
modern day football and the microscope that's on it, you
better buckle up. Because this thing can get weird fast.
(35:19):
I wanted to start with Ben Johnson because I think
sometimes you hear a lot the different generations gen X,
gen Z, Millennials and how we're all wired different. And
obviously we've all had different experiences as children depending on
the years we were growing up. But I think there
is a consistent theme with any young person who is
(35:41):
a high achiever and to make it into the NFL,
especially as a guy like Caleb Williams, you have to
be wired a certain way. There is a certain amount
of God given talent that people possess, right. It's a
reason that they're better than you at high school, it's
a reason they get into a college. But once you
get at the highest level, you have to take it
(36:03):
to another level, not just physically, but mentally in terms
of work ethic, in terms of training. It takes a
lot to last and to be a good player. You
can't fake your way into that. It's why coaching in
football has really separated then the other sports. Like in basketball,
you're not even allowed to yell to the players anymore.
They tell you what to do, and when they want
you fired, you're gone. In football, you could go and
(36:26):
do every position group in the NFL and in college,
and the position coach in that room is typically wearing
guys out and a lot of times the star players
just the nature of the business and watching hard knocks
last year, I was like someone was missing with Eberflus.
He's just like, this is a Saban guy. This guy
(36:48):
was team captain for Saban's team. What and it was
just like for a defensive guy, he just felt kind
of soft. He just honestly, he just felt completely over
his head. And listen, anytime you become a head coach
from being a coordinator, there is no guarantee you're gonna
know what you're doing. And clearly Eberflus is never gonna
(37:08):
be a head coach again. But Ben Johnson, people have
been begging for him to take their job for a
long time. I mean, Washington was flying to Detroit a
couple of years ago, I think praying and he'd take
the job. Clearly worked out for them landing Dan Quinn.
But listen, we're not all our wives' first choice. And
when I saw Ben Johnson is not only like kicking
the first team offense off the field and yelling at
(37:31):
guys and on guys and the intensities bringing to the
practice field, but how hard he's riding Caleb, I went,
you know, this might have a chance, because, let's face it,
the number one through five reasons the guy was hired
was to fix Caleb Williams and coach the offense which
can't run without him. And I saw that he gave
Caleb Williams going into the offseason a list of things
(37:54):
that he had to work on over the summer, from
studying the playbook to thirty to forty minutes a day,
to working on his footwork, which clearly needs to get better,
having goals of trying to complete seventy percent of his passes,
but even something as simple as like when you are
training in the summer, make sure you are working on
(38:14):
the throws to your left because you were terrible at
those during OTAs. And I will say this, whether you're
Peyton Manning or Tom Brady, to Caleb Williams, to any
position player who's any good in the league, they want
to be coach hard, They want to be pushed because
that's the only way to get better. The only way
to improve is when someone is willing to tell you
(38:35):
you need to do this that or the other thing
because what you're currently doing is not working. And in
the world of football sometimes that's very aggressive. And there
are several swear words attached with the message. Guys are
used to it. And I think one thing Caleb, it's
fair to say has lacked over the last several years,
(38:57):
even going back to college, is no one was telling
him anything like Lincoln Riley. Isn't exactly I would say,
viewed as a guy hard on his players, right, No
one's getting him confused with Nick Sabin or Kirby Smarter,
Brian Kelly. That's not really his mo. And then obviously
Eberflus was a dead man walking the moment Caleb Williams
(39:19):
showed up Ben Johnson, he's got some gravitas, he's got
some juice because he now more than Caleb, is viewed
as the most important guy in the organization. But if
he's going to have success, he needs this player to
be good and he needs to write him. I saw
headline today Dan Campbell kicked everyone out of practice, started
(39:40):
practice over like it's furious, right, So where did Ben
Johnson learn this from? And we're all products, you know,
definitely in football, whether it's audio or radio, or podcasting
of people we've worked with, people we've worked for, people
we've been around, and taking things that we like that
they do into our own world. And clearly Ben Johnson
(40:03):
I think is instituting some of the stuff that Dan
Campbell is really good at. Writing these guys and writing
them hard. Now, you can't just scream at a guy.
To scream at him twenty four to seven. You gotta
love him up a little bit, but you gotta coach
him hard. Football will never change. I don't care what
happens in society. They're the best coaches are always the
(40:23):
guys that demand the most and are the most intense.
You'd be like, why Andy Reid gets along with everyone.
Ask any player, any coach, anyone in that front office
about their operation through training camp through the season. One
they have the most physical training camp, and two in
season there's not I'm just taking this practice off to
go in the training room. That doesn't fly. And I
(40:45):
think if Ben Johnson wants to have success, he knows
he's got to be the hardest on Caleb Williams to
get the respect of all the other players on the team.
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